To celebrate International Women's Day (IWD), we are shining a light on some of the amazing women who help shape National College of Ireland. Find out what IWD means to them.
Jilyn McLoughlin, Parent Child + Home Visiting Programme Coordinator with ELI
International Women’s Day, March 8th, 2025
Shining a light on the women of NCI.
My name is Jilyn Mc Loughlin, and I am a ParentChild+ Home Visiting Programme Coordinator. This year will be my sixteenth year at National College of Ireland.
Previous paths and future aspirations
I first heard about the ParentChild + Programme through a friend who was already a home visitor. When I heard how the home visits work in and around my local community it really sparked an interest with me as I participated in many events in my community. I had young children at the time so this meant I could have flexibility within my working day as well as a complete change from my previous job which was a carer for The Alzheimer’s Society of Ireland.
I initially started off part-time, I was working 3 days a week. During my first few years with ELI, I participated and facilitated various play groups across the northside and southside. Within my role as a home visitor, my colleagues and I had become aware of the rise in families living in emergency accommodation. As these families lives where quite overwhelming and I couldn’t commit to 92 visits myself, along with other colleagues, we came up with the idea of our Home from Home Programme. This Programme is a condensed version of ParentChild+ home visiting. The implementation of this Programme took months of research and planning to produce an alternative, structured version of PC+. Five years later, this Programme has gone from strength to strength, and I continue to network with various homeless accommodation and IPAS centres across Dublin city centre.
During my first few years as a home visitor, I successfully completed my FETAC Level 5 in Early Childhood Education. I found this a challenge at time due to me being an early school leaver. Completing this course gave me more confidence in my role as a home visitor as I felt this gave me more tools and knowledge to help me in my role. I have completed many CPD courses, First Aid, Manual Handling, Child Protection, Domestic Violence, and Suicide Awareness. The introduction of the CRM system has accelerated my confidence in using technology. I eventually moved to full-time hours with a set contract, in a permanent role.
When I became a full-time staff member, I took on more administrative tasks and became more confident using computers. As part of ELI and home visiting, I would have attended a wide range of meetings within our local communities, deal with local politicians, public health nurses, JLO, school Liaisons Officers, social workers, creche’s, and various members of the HSE. I have also attended and presented at breakfast meetings with directors of multinational companies who could be potential funders to ELI. I also took part on interview panels with my senior coordinator’s recruiting new home visitors.
I had been a home visitor for 13 years when the opportunity for a coordinator role became available. I was successful in achieving this new role which I am now doing for 3 years.
Looking ahead and empowering others
My aspirations are for every child in Ireland to avail of PC+ and Home from Home to have the same opportunity to reach their full education potential.
I would hope that home visiting will become more recognised and valued on a national scale so that vulnerable families have access to the supports they need. Since becoming a grandmother 3 years ago I would continuously encourage my daughter to learn about the importance of Early Learning through play.
My motivation
Success in families Graduating from PC+ and Home from Home, seeing the ripple effect of home visiting in their family and the wider community motivates me.
I love working in my community with other local women who share the same passion for supporting families. Hearing feedback from families at the end of Programme evaluations can be very motivating and rewarding. As a coordinator I still visit families and deliver home visits which keeps me in tune with what happens on the ground.
International Women’s Day
Women empowering women is so important, and as a large team of women in ELI we encourage and motivate each other on a day-to-day basis.
As a team we are aware of challenges women face, responsibilities of childcare, running households, gender pay gaps etc., and we navigate these challenges together. International Women’s Day is a day to highlight of all our achievements.
Seeing the effects of positive change
I do feel there have been some positive changes in my workplace, for example with maternity leave, women can take extended leave to fulfill their childcare responsibilities. The new flexible hybrid working policy has had a very positive impact on work life balance.
There have also been actions taken in the College to support students and staff like the Bridget’s Basket Initiative that was rolled out at NCI, providing free period products to all NCI staff and students. NCI have also implemented a Menopause in the Workplace Policy. The employer is under obligation to make reasonable adjustments in the workplace. This is so important because it protects women from harassment and discrimination in the workplace.